HOCKEY Australian Men’s Team To Visit New Zealand

Greymouth Evening Star, 12 March 1948, Page 4 (Supplement)

HOCKEY Australian Men’s Team To Visit New Zealand

An all-Australian men’s hockey team is to visit New Zealand later this season, probably in August,, and in an order to arrange a suitable itinerary, the New Zeland Hockey Association is requesting applications from affiliated associations for matches against the visiting team. This information was received from the New Zealand Hockey Association at a meeting of delegates to the West Coast Hockey Association last evening.

Considerable discussion took place on the matter and it was finally decided to make an application to the New Zealand Association for a midweek match to .be played at Greymouth. A committee to arrange for the financial aspect of the visit is to be set up at the annual meeting of the West Coast Association next week. The New Zealand association advised that the Australian team would arrive in New Zealand by air before the end of July, and would remain for approximately five weeks, playing five Saturday matches and 12 mid-week matches. From this it would appear that only one town outside the four main centres could be given a. Saturday match. Terms of Matches It was also pointed out that associations obtaining matches would be responsible for the accommodation and. entertainment of the visitors while in their territory. Matches would be purchased outright by associations. Associations desirous of applying for a match were requested to lodge their applications with the New Zealand association before April 28. Terms for matches were set out, namely £75 for a Saturday game and £4O for a mid-week match. Only one test would be played and it was estimated that the cost of this would be

in the vicinity of £3OO. In making the decision to apply for a mid-week game, the president of the West Coast association, Mr W. E. Newton, said that in view of the length of time that ha.d elapsed since an overseas team had toured the Dominion, the prospects of the coming Australian tour looked very bright, and would prove a great fillip to the sport on the West Coast. He pointed out, however, that it would entail a large amount of hard work and that an immediate start should be made in order to raise the necessary funds.

Women’s Tour

Advice was also received from the New Zealand Women’s Hockey Association that an all-Australian women’s hockey team would arrive in New Zealand during August and would be in the Dominion for about one month. The proposed itinerary provided for matches in the four main centres and in several other towns.

Owing to the fact that the West Coast women’s association was not affiliated with the New Zealand association, it was stated, a match could not be arranged for this district, but West Coast players would have an opportunity of seeing the Australian team in action at the Dominion tournament, being held in conjunction with the Otago centennial celebrrations, at Dunedin from August .28 to September 4.